Dog days of summer? Not with these backyard games

POINT LOMA  Once upon a time, in a magical land called The Past, children played outside. They ran around until they were exhausted, and then they ran around some more. They smiled when they won, they cried when they tripped and hurt their little knees, and cartwheels were the coolest way to get from one side of the park to the other.

iPhone? Wii? What’s that?

Things sure have changed, but for a few hours Saturday, children from around the country met up at Liberty Station in Point Loma for some good old-fashioned fun.

The occasion was the CLIF Kid Backyard Game of the Year “playoffs,” where children sampled new games created by other kids. Judges, including iconic pro skateboarder and Encinitas resident Tony Hawk, awarded scholarships and athletic swag like bikes and helmets to the winners.

The grand prize went to Card Sharks, a blend between a memory card game and a relay race. Players in teams run between two hula hoops, set at opposite ends of the backyard, and turn over cards inside the hula hoops. When they have a match, they collect that pair of cards and it’s the next teammate’s turn.

“It’s fun to do matching and run around,” said Benjamin McCarty, the 9-year-old champion, who came from Grandville, Mich. His family likes card games. One day, he decided to bring the cards outside. He started playing around and the game was born. He said he’s going to use his $10,000 scholarship “for college.”

Hawk and his fellow judges, a pair of children’s book authors, said they liked that many of the games were twists on old favorites. One finalist was a life-size grid called Tic Tac Go, created by a 6-year-old Florida boy, where players race to drop X and O pieces in a grid. In this version, they can knock each others’ pieces off and claim squares.

Get game rules here

Instructions for the games will be posted on the contest website in a few days. In the meantime, descriptions of the finalists are available online.

There are “so many challenges to get kids to be active these days, so I think encouraging them to create their own games is one of the best ways,” said Hawk. He judged the games based on “originality and not being complicated.”

“Just because I have kids, and I know that when rules get complicated, they start creating their own rules, and it becomes more arguments than fun.”

U-T San Diego conscripted three kid judges to ask their opinions on what game was the best. Here are their winners:

Shawn Ferguson, 9, of San Carlos

First prize: Dragon Frzz-Ball

In this game, kids run around and use tools to try to knock down the dragon eggs (water bottles) on the rival team. He liked it best "'cause it's really cool. You can run with it and stuff. It was a lot of fun."

For second prize, he chose Soccer Around the World, where players kick soccer balls into a goal while standing at stations named after continents scattered around the yard.

"It's fun because I play soccer," he said.

The best games, he added, are "interesting and look cool."

Aysun Lamp, 11, of Ramona

First place: Monkeys Go Bananas

"It's kind of like capture the flag, and I love capture the flag," she said. In this game, players tie tails (made from colorful leis) around their waists. They run around picking up as many plastic bananas as they can for their team and bringing them to their home base. But watch out, there's a jaguar (another player) who loves grabbing monkeys by the tail.

In second place, she also voted for Tic Tac Go. "It's sort of like a normal game, except you get to run and do it, instead of writing it on a piece of paper," she said.

The best games, in her view, involve running and strategy.

Kendari Maloof, 10, visiting from the Bay Area

First prize: Card Shark

"I like it because you get a lot of exercise and it's fun to find the matching cards in the fastest time," he said.

For second prize, he liked Tic Tac Go, because it's based on a familiar favorite, "but it's exercising."

Fun games for him have to have three qualities: "Team game, versing game, and running around outside."